During McDonald's first "National Hiring Day," the company hoped to hire 50,000 new employees in one fell swoop. Getty

April 20, 2011

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McDonald's held its first National Hiring Day on Tuesday, a "super-sized" HR (and PR) campaign meant to add as many as 50,000 people to the fast food giant's payroll — and change the stigma associated with flipping burgers. McDonald's, which employs 1.7 million workers worldwide, emphasizes that 30 percent of its executives started out working lower-level jobs in its restaurants. Sure, unemployment is still high — but does the economy really need more McJobs?

Yes, the recession killed those jobs, too: People without college degrees fared worse than those with diplomas during the recession, says John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, as quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times. The unemployment rate for people with no high-school diploma was 13.7 percent last month — and 9.5 percent for people with just a high-school diploma — compared with the overall national average of 8.8 percent. These low-level jobs can make a big difference to a lot of people."Job hopefuls bite on McDonald's hiring day opportunity"

This is a reflection of our weak recovery: "Has the recession turned us into a nation of McWorkers?" asks Annie Lowrey at Slate. Government data about the labor market paints "a fairly bleak picture: The jobs we're adding, for the most part, aren't great ones." The temp industry has shown growth, but that means jobs without benefits or "much income security." And the long-term pattern isn't pretty either, with stable, mid-level jobs being squeezed out. Instead, we're getting "employment polarization," with jobs concentrated "at places like fast food joints and universities — but not a lot of jobs in between.""Heading for a McRecovery?"